Film still from "Hotel Nueva Isla." Image courtesy of Miami International Film Festival. One of the most intriguing series in the 32nd Miami International Film Festival is, without a doubt, the Emerging Cuban Program. Smartly made with limited means by an enterprising young generation of directors, some not yet in their 30s, the films include both features and shorts, dramatic pieces and documentaries. Don’t expect car chases, explosions and special effects — or obvious political statements. Here, silences often speak louder than words, scenes breathe slowly, shots linger and even the lighting, more often the darkness, make subtle statements. These are often intensely personal explorations of a country’s faded dreams (“The Project of the Century” part of the Knight Competition) and crumbling past (“Hotel Nueva Isla”); of honorable, creative lives lived in difficult circumstances (“Digna Guerra,” “Memorias del Abuelo”) , or the peculiar perversions of “a good man” (“El Mundo de Raúl”).
